Tire.



G. E. MILLER & G. M. WHEATON.

TIRE.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 6,1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

UNITED STATES PALPENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. MILLER, OF NEWTON CENTER, AND CARL M. WHEATON, OF NEWTONVILLE,MASSACHUSETTS; SAID WHEATON ASSIGNOR TO SAID MILLER.

TIRE

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE E. MILLER and CARL M. WHEATON, citizensofthe United States of America, and residents of, respectively, NewtonCenter and Newtonville, .both in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements inTires, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vehicle tires and has for its object theproduction of a wheel which will dispense with the use of rubber orpneumatic tires, while at the same time the same degree of resiliency isobtained.

It consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement ofparts which will be readily understood by reference to the descriptionof the drawings and to the claims tion of a wheel with a tire appliedthereto embodying the features of t s invention.

Fig. 2 represents a section through the rimf of the wheel and, the tirethereon, drawn to an enlarged scale, the cutting plane being on line 22onFig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a section through the tire itself,-thesection being on line 33 on Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a section throughthe tire itself, the cutting plane being on line 44 on Fig. 1. Fig. 5represents a sectional plan of the devices for securingtogether the endsof the members for holding the tire upon the rim of the wheel. Fig. 6 re)resen'ts a section of the same on line 6-6 on ig. 5 looking in thedirection of the arrow. Figs. 7 and 8 represent, respectively, arrelevation and an inverted plan of the lower end of the tool forad'usting the securing devices, and Figs. 9 an 10 represent, res ectivelan elevation and an inverted p an of t e locking member for retainingthe securing members in ad'usted position.

Similar characters es'ignate like arts throughout the several figures ofthe rawwhich exten s outwardly in'the direction of the periphery of saidwheel. These disks 15 ends of the rings.

of felt or other similar yieldable material are held in position bymeans of one or more yielding members 16 which extend through suitableopenings in said disk 15 and have secured to their ends the shoulderedmembers 17 and 18. The members 16 are headed or otherwise secured to themember 17 at one end and at the opposite end, the ends of these members16 are threaded as at 19 and pass through the member 18 and on thethreaded ends are mounted nuts 20 by which the member 18 may be adjustedlengthwise of said members 16. The member 17 has secured thereto a rack21 while the member 18 has secured thereto a similar rack 22, the teethof said racks being opposed to one another as indicated in Fig. 5.

The racks 21 and 22 are confined within a sleeve 23 in which they areadapted to be moved longitudinally in opposite directions lon itudinallythereof through which the too 24 may be inserted when it is desired tooperate the racks 22 thereby.

When the racks 21 and 22 havebeen ad justed sufficiently and it isdesired to lock the same in adjusted position the four-toothed lockingdevice 27 is inserted through the opening 26 so that the, teeth of saidlocking device engage the teeth of the racks 21 and 22 in such a mannerthat further movement of these racks is prevented. The tool 24 is thenremoved.

In making up the tire, a plurality of disks 15 are inserted upon theyielding members or split rings 16 andforced against the member 17,these disks extendingto the opposite The shouldered member 18 is theninsertedu'pon the opposite end 'ofthe split rings 16 and the nuts 20 areoperated to. clamp the various felt, disks -solidly together throughoutthe entire-length of the ring. The racks 21 and 22 are laced within thesleeve 23- while othcrdis {S of felt or other yieldable material areplaced thereon interposed between the members 17 and 18.

As the racks 21 and 22 may be moved outwardly in opposite directions inthe sleeve 23 it is obvious that the ring with the disks thereon may beexpanded sufficiently so that it may be placed upon the rim 13 and whenpositioned thereon the tool 24 is inserted between two of the disks 15through the slot 26 in the outer face of the sleeve 23 and between theteeth of the racks 21 and 22. The operator then turns the tool 24 untilthe racks 21 and 22 have been brought into the position shown in Fig. 5with the ends of one rack. abutting the shoulder 28 on the other. Whenthis has been accomplished, the locking device 27 is inserted betweentwo disks 15 which are compressed by any suitable means during thisinsertion, the shank 29 of said locking device extending through anopening in the rim 13 and felly 12, while its outer end has threadedthereto the nuts 30 and 31 preventing the accidental displacement of thelocking device 27 from engaging with the teeth of the racks 21 and 22.

As indicated in Fig. 5, when this locking device 27 has been insertedthe short teeth thereof enter the s ace between two teeth on each of therac s 21 and 22 while the 'longer blades are interposed between thefaces of the teeth of said racks, thus preventing the lockingdevice'from turning and the racks from moving longitudinally in eitherdirection.

It is obvious that during the adjustmentv of the racks 21 and 22 and theinsertion of the locking device 27, it is necessary to compress thedisks 15 between the members 17 and 18 sufliciently to permit of thisoperation and that as soon as the locking device 27 has been properlyinserted and the tool24 removed the compression upon the disks 15 isremoved so that they may expand sufficiently to make the tirescontinuous throughout the entire periphery of the wheel.

In the drawing the devices for holding the felt or fibrous disks to therim of the wheel are indicated as a pair of split rings but it isobvious that any other suitable means may be used equally as well.

It is also evident that the details of construction of the variousfparts of the device Q may be varied from the scribed without alteringthe principles of theinvention.

This makes a very resilient tire While at the same time it overcomesmany of the objections to a pneumatic tire as it is obvious that in atire such as is shown anddescribed herein there is no possibility ofuncture. Its Wearing qualities excel those 0' the rubber tire while itis less liable to skid.-

orm shown and-de- It is believed that the advantages and operation of a.tire such as is herein shown will befully understood without furtherdes-cri tion.

claim:

1. In a vehicle tire, the combination 'of a split ring smembers securedto the ends of said ring and projcctin beyond the periphery thereof eachmem er overlapping the other; a plurality of disks of yieldable materialon said ring throughout its length between said members; meansinterposed bea its length ;*a rack secured to eachmember the teeth ofwhich face one another; and an elongated member provided with rack teethon two opposite faces adapted to engage the teeth of said racks to lockthem in adjusted position.

3. In a vehicle tire, the combination of two s lit rings of e ualdiameter; a plurality of dis s of yieldab e material on said ringsthroughout their'length; a bar secured to each end of said pair'of ringsand connecting them; a raeksecured to each bar and rovided with rackteeth facingthe teeth 0 the other rack; means for preventing the lateralseparation of said racks; and means for preventing said racks movinglongitudinally of each other.

4. In a vehicle tire, the combination of two split rings of e ualdiameter; a-plurality of disks of yieldab e material on said ringsthroughout their length; a bar secured to one end of said pair of rings;a second bar bar thereon; a rack secured to each bar'and. provided withrack teeth facing the teeth of the other rack; means for reventing thelateral separation of sald rac s; and means for preventing said racksmoving longitudi nally of each other,

Signed by us at 7 Water St. ,Boston, Mass. this 16th dayof March, 1908.

GEORGE E. MILLER. CARL M. WHEATON.

Witnesses:

WALTER E. LOMBARD, NATHAN C. LOMBARD.

aving thus described our invention, We

